Biden would make vaccine free for all

The U.S. coronavirus death toll is approaching 100,000 about five months after the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in the country. More than 1.57 million people across the country have been infected, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump told reporters that “we are not closing our country” if the spread of the virus flares up again. States continue to chart a path forward, reopening nonessential businesses and easing restrictions on movement. Even the hardest hit states in the country, New York and New Jersey, are reopening beaches for Memorial Day weekend.

This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks.

Global cases: More than 5.12 million

Global deaths: At least 333,382

U.S. cases: More than 1.57 million

U.S. deaths: At least 94,729

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Restaurants set up tables in streets and parking lots to ease the pain of coronavirus restrictions

Jeff Gigante, co-owner of Forbici Modern Italian in Tampa, said the city’s program has been “a life saver for us.” Capacity restrictions, while meant to make social distancing easier, are challenging in the already-low-margin restaurant business. Expanding tables to streets, sidewalks and parking lots is one way to add capacity while still complying with public-health rules.

“If we’re going to continue our great renaissance as a city, we’re going to have to open up more streets and public space to restaurants or… they’re not going to survive,” said John Cranley, mayor of Cincinnati. —Kevin Stankiewicz

Ford started resuming vehicle production in the U.S. on May 18, 2020 with new coronavirus safety protocols such as health assessments, personal protective equipment and facility modifications to increase social distancing.

Ford

9:46 a.m. ET — As auto manufacturers reopen, they are dealing with production interruptions as employees become sick with the coronavirus. At least three employees at Ford Motor plants in Illinois and Michigan tested positive for Covid-19 this week, prompting temporary factory shutdowns for deep cleaning, CNBC’s Michael Wayland reports.

Even as factories implement safety measures like requiring employees to wear face masks and undergo temperature checks, they can’t dictate what employees do outside of work and are not yet reliant on mass testing to screen workers. —Hannah Miller

9:36 a.m. ET — Stocks opened along the flatline as tensions between China and the U.S. offset increasing optimism for a potential coronavirus vaccine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 18 points, or less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also traded marginally lower.

Biden says he would make Covid-19 vaccine free for everyone in U.S.

“I tell you what, if one is found, I would make sure that every single person in America is able to get a vaccine, period, without any cost,” Biden told “Squawk Box.”

“And I would do the same thing with testing right now.” The former vice president couched the health-care stance in economic terms, contrasting himself with President Donald Trump, who is pushing states to quickly reopen their economies.

“All this talk about reopening — people aren’t going to open until they have the confidence to know that if they gather together, they’re not going to get sick,” Biden said.

Trump said last week that he was “looking at” the possibility of making an eventual coronavirus vaccine available free of charge. —Kevin Breuninger

New cases boom in Africa

Oxford recruiting for expanded human trials of vaccine candidate

Nicolas Asfouri | AFP | Getty Images

7:06 a.m. ET — AstraZeneca and Oxford University have announced plans to move their vaccine candidate to human trials and have already started to recruit up to 10,260 adults and children for the next phase of trials, the university said.

The university said it’s now recruiting for a phase two trial, which will include older adults and children, to assess if the immune response varies in different age demographics. The phase three trial will assess how well the vaccine actually defends against infection from the coronavirus.

India reports biggest one-day increase in cases

Migrant labourers stand in a queue for medical checkup after reaching quarantine center at their hometown Allahabad during Government imposed nationwide lockdown as a prventive measure against the COVID-19 corona virus in Allahabad, India on April 27, 2020.

Ritesh Shukla | NurPhoto via Getty Images

7:00 a.m. ET — India’s health ministry reported the country recorded its highest single-day spike of new infections since the pandemic began.

The country of approximately 1.3 billion people reported a total of over 118,000 cases on Friday, a roughly 5% increase from Thursday’s figures.

To date, India has recorded 3,583 fatalities due to the virus, according to the health ministry. —Sam Meredith